Demountable chain



March 17, 1953 N. CORDIS DEMOUNTABLE CHAIN Filed May 11, 1949 INVENTOR: NAT CORDIS ATTORNEY Fig. /0

Patented Mar. 17, 1953 UNITED STATES FA'EENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

This invention relates to drive and conveyor chains and more particularly to drive and conveyor chains of the type which includes links formed oi a series of pairs of opposed side bars and alternate plates connected by pintles or hinge pins, some of the plates also serving to support transverse scrapers or paddles. More specifically, my invention relates to demountable conveyor chain assemblies adapted for use in barn cleaners.

The barn cleaner oi the kind to which my invention relates includes a trough or gutter in the floor of the barn adjacent the animal stalls. This gutter or trough usually passes stalls on opposite sides or a barn floor and the cleaner travels in a loop. At some point along the travel of the cleaner, a pit is provided for the accumulation of refuse deposited therein as the chain and paddles pass over the pit. An elevator carries the refuse from the pit to a distributing point or vehicle and this elevator may also use the chain and paddle assembly produced in accordance with this in-@ vention. Chains for conveying the paddles through the troughs must be strong, rugged, and demountable to. permit modification or repair of e assembly by unskilled labor on the site.

A desirable feature in chains of the above type is the provision of demountably fabricated chain links which are constructed so as to permit the separation of the chain at any point for lengthening or shortening the chain. In chains having this feature, however, it is necessary to provide means for locking the parts to prevent unintended separation during the normal use of the chain.

It is therefore an object of my invention to provide a chain construction which is demountable. Another object is to provide a positive means for locking the demountable chain elements. A further object of the invention is to provide a demountable chain assembly in combination with paddles or scrapers which is particularly adapted for use in barn cleaners. An additional object is to provide a method and means for fabricating and modiiyinga conveyor chain assembly which avoids any on-the-job welding and can be installed by unskilled labor. These and other objects of my invention will become apparent as the description thereof proceeds.

In general, I attain the objects of my invention by providing alternately arranged plate links and pairs of parallel side bars which are connected by removable hinge pins or pintles. The side bars are provided with apertured or keyhole slots and the units are assembled by relative movements of the parallel side bars and the interposed plate link. A keeper means is removably fixed adjacent one of the side bars to retain the pintles associated with each pair of parallel side bars in spread relation and thereby prevent accidental separation of the side bars and plate links connected by said pintles. A bracket for supporting the paddle or scraper is fixed to some of the links and is Welded to or is integral with the plate link. The paddle is of novel configuration and is adapted to be carried by the bracket in either of two positions, depending upon the intended direction of chain travel.

To illustrate my invention I have shown embodiments thereof in the drawings wherein:

Figure l is a top view of a portion of my chain;

Figure 2 is a side view, partly in section, along the line 2-2 in Figure 1 to show the overlapping and interlocking of link elements;

Figures 3 and 4 are perspective views of the plate link and side bar, respectively, used in the chain; 7

Figures 5 and 7 are plan views of two embodiments of the keeper means;

Figure 6 is a section taken along the line 6-5 in Figures 5 and 7;

Figure 8 is a side view of a paddle hinged to a chain element;

" Figure 9 is an end section of the assembly taken along the line t-S in Figure 8; and

Figure 10 illustrates one embodiment of a hinge pin or pintle used in the chain shown in Figures opposite faces of the link I 0 with the pin receiv-' ing opening it of the apertured keyhole slot l5-lfi in register with the pin I2 which passes through the link 10 at l4. Intermediate the ends of pin l2 are provided recesses I2a and I22) which accommodate the slots IS in side bars II. The parallel pair of side bars H is then slid longitudinally of the plate link l0 and the recesses I2a and i222 of the pin I2 enter the slots It with the heads of pin I2 abutting the outer faces of the parallel side bars II. A second link I6 is placed between side bars I l with the enlarged pin receiving openings l and the hinge pin opening M in alignment. A pin 12 is passed through openings I5, l4 and I5 and then the pin l2 and the plate link ID are slid longitudinally relative to the side bars II to assume the positions shown in Figures 1 and 2.

A pin retainer I3, such as that shown in Figures 5, 6, and 7 is fit snugly under the heads of pins !2 and within recess [2a as shown in Figures 1 and 2. The retainer may be flexible and is preferably coextensive with the shape of the side bars H and is slotted adjacent its ends to engage the recess in the pintles 12 thereby to maintain the pintles in spread position in bearing contact with the side bars at the ends of the slots IS. The depressed portions of stops ll coincide with the enlarged openings I5 in the side bars I i and provide positive means for locking the retainer 13 and thereby preventing accidental removal of the retainer.

The retainer illustrated in Figures 1, 2 and 5 inciudes pin engaging slots l8 which are parallel and extend transversely to the long axis of the side bars Ii. However, it is contemplated that the slots may be disposed as shown at I?! and 28 in Figure 7. This latter embodiment is afiixed to the chain in a manner similar to that described in connection with Figure 5 but the slot i9 is first placed under the head of pin [2 and then the retainer (and slot 26) are swung into position about slot l9 as a pivot until the stops i? enter the openings l5 and lock it in place.

The pin keepers or retainers l3 are not in tension since they do not carry any of the load applied to the pins [2 but merely spread the pins to keep them in slots l6 and in bearing contact with the links and side bars which are ordinarily in tension. The retainers can therefore be made of relatively flexible metal stock such as sheets of iron, steel, aluminum, or the like.

Figures 8, 9, and 10 illustrate a barn cleaner paddle or scraper which is mounted on the chain at spaced intervals. In Figures 1 and 2 is shown the bracket 2! fixed, as by welding, to the plate link 16 and having bolt receiving opening 22. The paddle 23 is provided with a pair of corresponding slots 24 and 25 which may accommodate either bracket 2] or paddle bolt 21. By having the pair of slots, the paddle is rendered interchangeable with respect to the direction of travel of the chain assembly within the barn gutter. When installed in such gutter, the chain travels along one side thereof near the bottom and the lower edge of the paddle 23 travels in contact with the floor of the gutter. If the chain is arranged to travel clockwise, slot 24 of the paddle 23 engages the bracket 2!. On the other hand, if the endless chain is driven in a counter-clockwise direction, the slot 25 of the paddle 23 engages the bracket 2| as shown in the illustrated embodiment. A paddle bolt 21 is passed through slot 24 or 25, whichever is not used to engage the bracket 2|, and thence through the opening 22 in the bracket 2|. A spacer element or ring 26 may be interposed between the leading edge of the paddle 23 and bracket 2| as shown in Figure 9 and a suitable nut or locking pin completes the assembly. It is also contemplated, however, that other types of paddles and paddle mounts may be used. For example, I can provide an inverted U-shaped bracket with the base fixed to the plate link and mount a wooden or metal paddle within the bracket on a bolt or pin passing through the arm of the U.

Although I have described my invention with reference to particular embodiments, this is for the purpose of illustration only and my invention is not limited thereto. For example, the paddle 23 is shown in the drawing as having a slot 25 to engage the paddle bolt 21, but in another embodiment the slot 25 can be replaced by a round hole through which the bolt 21 is passed. Likewise, the paddle mounting 2| can be curved below the upper face of the paddle 23 toward the inner face of the leading edge of the paddle and in that event spacer 26 is unnecessary. It is therefore contemplated that these and other modifications can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of my invention described herein or as defined by the appended claim.

What I claim is:

A demountable chain comprising in combination a central plate link having a pintle-receiving bore near each end, parallel side bars, pintles passing through said bores to connect one plate link and successive pairs of parallel side bars, said side bars having opposed pairs of apertured slots through which said pintle extend, and a flexible retainer firmly but detachably mounted substantially coextensively with only one of said side bars, open slots adjacent the ends of said retainer engaging annular recesses in said pintles and maintaining said pintles in spread position in bearing contact with said side bars at remote ends of the slots therein, said retainer being further provided with integral flexible tab means engaging adjacent ends of the apertured slots of one side bar when in pintle-retaining position.

NAT CORDIS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 610,751 Wood Sept. 13, 1898 1,687,005 Brock Oct. 9, 1928 1,694,746 Landahl Dec. 11, 1928 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 5,866 Great Britain Oct. 24, 1896 of 1896' 20,621 Great Britain Oct. 24, 1896 of 1896 20,849 Great Britain Sept. 4, 1897 of 1896 

